Manchester United confirms Glazer’s approach for takeover

In an announcement to the London Stock Exchange the club confirmed that it has received a preliminary approach regarding a possible offer from the American billionaire Malcolm Glazer. Glazer purchased his last shares June for a reported 245p-a-share, which values the company at around £642m. Banker Mehmet Dalmann, who looks after Glazer’s share purchases, told media that he thought a takeover bid was imminent. "The Glazers want to own the club, either through buying more shares or through management or board level,” he told media. However, Glazer was advised by former Football League chairman Keith Harris, who now acts as a merchant banker and advisor for fellow club Chelsea, has warned Glazer that the most obvious winners in any deal are likely to be the Irish John Magnier and JP McManus. "Glazer would have to buy them out to take control. I don't know if they would be interested, but they are known as very smart investors. I think there is one other quite big obstacle, and that is not just the hearts but the pockets of the fans who are shareholders. Buying out the Irishmen is a financial matter. But with the fans it is something more than that," Harris commented to media. Club supporters are to start a campaign to try and fend off the threat of Glazer’s takeover by trying to acquire more than 10% of the company’s shares under its umbrella, to make the prospect of returning the club to private ownership less appealing for interested parties and to leave any future bidder needing to be publicly accountable for the way the company is run. Club chief executive David Gill is spurting the idea of club sponsors, such as Nike and Vodafone, offering shares as rewards for buying products. However, club board members have called on Glazer to prove he is serious about a takeover, and to prove he can finance his reported offer of £3 per share, which would value the club at around £785m, whereas Glazer’s reported personal wealth falls short of the amount he would need to buy the club.

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